Metallic railway-car



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

e. W. MqsMITH. METALLIC RAILWAY GAB..

Patented 00413.21, 1890.

(No Model.)

o A m 7. m

2. t e e h s w ,e e h s. 2 H ml. Tl. M S M W C. 1%. d 0 M 0 m METALLIC RAILWAY GAR.

No. 439,085. Patented 0013.21, 1890.

ybgzesses UNITED STATES dPATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER W'. M. SMITH, OF 'SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

M ETALLIC RAILWAY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters vPatent No. 439,085, dated October 21, 1890.

Application tiled July 22, 1889.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER W. M. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county ot San Francisco and State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Metallic Railway-Cars, which is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of a car embodying my improvements, partly in section at one end; Fig. 2, a detail plan section taken on the line l l of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a similar bottom plan section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig. 4, a cross-section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 5, a detail crosssection at one of the lower corners of the car; Fig. 6, a similar section at one of the upper corners of the car; Fig. 7, a detail side elevation of the car, showing a slight modification; and Fig. 8, a detail cross-section of the same, taken on the line 4 4 ot Fig. 7.

In the drawings, Fig. l is upon a scale by itself; Figs. 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8, upon the same scale, but enlarged from Fig. l; and Figs. 5 and 6, upon the same scale, but still further enlarged.

My present invention relates to railwaycars constructed almost or entirely of metal; and it'. consists in certain improvement-s upon the car described and shown in Letters Patent No. 359,640, heretofore granted to me, dated March 22, 1887.

I will describe in detail and as fully as necessary'to an understanding of the said improvements the construction of a car embodying my present invention, and will then point out more definitely in claims the special improvements which I believe to be new and wish to secure by Letters Patent.

In the drawings, A A represent the sills running the length of the car, upon which the car-body rests and which are themselves mounted upon the trucks in any usual way. These sills are made of metal, preferably steel, and are hollow or tubular. In the drawings they are shown of rectangular form;

-but this is a matter of choice. It desired, some of these sills may be solid, although I prefer to have all of them tubular for pur- Serial No. 318,259. (No model.)

poses of strength and lightness. The body of the car is made, as in my former patent, from plates of metal, preferably steel; but the mode of construction is somewhat difterent. The sides B, instead of being made from single plates, are composed of a series of short plates b, which are lap-riveted together at their edges, as shown in the drawings. The floor-plate C is also made in similar sections united by lap-riveting, and preferably in the same' plane as the joints of the sides. Instead ot separating the door-plates and the sides at the lower corners of the car, as in my former patent, I extend the iioorplate outward to the full width of the car and extend the lower edges of the side plates downward until they rest directly u pon the iiooring, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings. Plates D and Dare here employed, as in my former patent, to make the lower side beams of the car proper. These platesV are bent as in said former patent, ythe outer one D having a single right-angled bend and the inner one D having the flanges CZ d at its lower and upper edges, respectively, whereby a tubular beam is obtained and a suitable fastening for the side plates and Hoor-plates, which are riveted to these two angular plates, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. These cornerbeams run the entire length of the car, as before, and are bent inward at the respective ends of the car, and these ends are closed by suitable plates at each end of the car. Openings d2 are, however, let into these tubes at each end from the outside of the car, as shown in Figs. l and 2, which openings are supplied with threaded plugs d3, by which they are closed whenever desired. In this way I provide for circulation through these tubular beams, either of air from the outside by simply removing the plugs or of steam or hot air from any suitable supply, by making a suitable coupling f'roin the tubes in one car to those of another. These tubular beams therefore become the means for Ventilating and i heating the cars. l Y

The complete flooring of the car is made up from several layers. The floor-plate C has IOO layers mentioned and between the inner as to provide the usual dome, and immediately s below the highest portion of the dome is aA edges of the two plates D. This paper-pulp makes a Very desirable packing for these cars, and is preferably made completely reproof by treatment with any well-known solution for this purpose. Immediately above the floor-plate C is a layer c2 of any suitable material. A sheet of paper-pulp is a desirable material for this upper layer. Similar tubular side beams are formed at the upper corners of the car by outer plates E and inner ones E', which are like those at the cor ners below and in my former patent. A

The roof F of the car ils also made from several sections f instead of a single sheet, as before, these sections being lap-riveted like the sides and in the same plane. The outer edges of .the roof and the upper edges of the side plates are embraced by the two tubeplates F.A and E', the same as before, and are in thesamemanner riveted to the side plates; but here also I bring the edges of these two inner plates together by extending the roofplates outward until they meet the outer plate E and carry up the side plates until their upper edges meet the roof-plates, as seen in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Vith this arrangement of the plates within the tubes at the four corners of the car a stronger joint is obtained and also a stronger tube, so that taken together the car is materially strengthened and better able to resist serious shocks. The tubular beams or girders at the upper corners of the car are also closed at their ends, but haveopenings elet into them from the outside, which are closed by screw-plugs e',

the same as below and for similar purposes. The sectionplates of the roof are bent so metal plate G, which extends from one side -of the. dome tothe other and runs the whole length of the car, leaving a space between it and the top of the dome, as seen in Figs. l and 4. This plate extends outside of the car at each end, being bent downward, as at g, under the hoods over the car-platforms, and the roof-plates are also carried downward in a similar way, so as to provide .an opening F into this space in the ,top of the dome at each end of the car. There is thus provided an air -space the entire length of the dome, through which air will freely circulate when the cars are in motion, the openings into these spaces being under the hoods at the ends of the car. Lining-plates H are bent to conform to the roof under which they are placed and extend from the inner tube-plates E inward and upward to the plate G, which rests upon their upper edges, and between the outside roof-plates and this lining a layer of compressed paper-pulp 7i, may be inserted. The plates are riveted together at the corners and at the points where they join at the dome.

The sides of the car are also provided with interior lining-sheets I, which are preferably of the same material'as the outside sheets, but may be considerably thinner, and are arranged a little distance from the latten'so as to leave a space between the two, which 1s filled with a packing J of the same material heretofore mentioned-that is, compressed paper-pulp or papier-mache. This packing of the sides of the car provides insulation against both heat and cold, and also serves to deaden the sound, which has been found somewhat objectionable in metal cars. The introduction of this packing at the ioor and roof of the car is also for the same purposes.

The interior lining-sheets are sectional, the same as the exterior plates forming the sides of the car, and preferably the joints are in the same plane with the latter, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings, this arrangement being for convenience in building and repairing the car. The interior of the car may be iinished in various ways. It is a matter largely of taste.

In Figs. 7 and S of the drawings I have shown a slight modification in the structure illustrated by the other figures. It relates-entirely, however, to the lower corner of the car, and consists in extending the side platesb down to the floor, as heretofore described, and then bending them inward at right angles, so as to provide a horizontal section b', upon which the edges of the iloor-plates directly rest, as seen in Fig. 8 of the drawings. In this construction the outer angular plate used in the construction already described is dispensed with, andthe sides of the car present a smooth plane surface to the very bottom edge, as seen in Figs. 7 and 8. The advantage of this modification is that no seam is offered for the possible entrance of water, which might occasionally occur at some some points in the construction shown in Fig. 5 if there should be carelessness in keepingthis joint carefully protected by paint or other suitable material. In this modification, however, it is obvious that the lower corners of the car are not as strong as in the other construction, and for this reason itis not suitable for heavy cars, but may be made satisfactory even for the latter structures by strengthening internally, which may be done by any suitable process, as an angular plate put within the tube.

In the constructionl of the car from sectional platesas described above, important advantagesare obtained.` The plates themselves are more readily manufactured, andso more cheaplyobtained. j The car is more easily built, and at the same time iS, ifanything, stronger than under the construction in my former patent, for the lap-riveting of the sec- IIO tions together makes the strongest kind of construction possible. It is also a great convenience in repairing, for if a car is damaged at some point it is only necessary to take out the damaged section and replace with a new plate, so that instead of practically destroying1 the entire body ot' the car it may be repaired as readily as a steam-boi1er.

In the details of construction there may be many modifications, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the special details herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In metal railway-cars, the metal tubular side beams curved to form the lower corners of the car-body, closed at their ends, but provided with apertures opening into them at each end fromthe outside of the car, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In metal railway-cars, the metal tubular side beams curved to form the upper corners of the car, closed at their ends, but provided with apertures opening into them from the outside of the car, and provided with removable elosing-plugs, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In metal railway-cars, the tubular side beams-at the lower corners of the car, closed at their ends and provided with openings d on the outside of the car, in combination with threaded plugs cl3, by means of which said openings may be closed, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In metal railway-cars, the floor-plate C,` i

extending outward the full width of the'car on each side, in combination with the side plates B, extending downward to the bottom ofthe car and resting upon the Hoor-plates, and the bent plates D D', substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. In metal railway-cars, the side plates B, in combination with the roof-plates F, bent to the form of the roof and extended outward to rest directly upon the upper edges of the side plates, and the bent plates E and E', substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. In metal railway-cars, the sheet-metal root` F, bent to the required shape of the roof, in combination with ametal plate G, arranged just underneath the top of the root-dome, eX- tending the entire length of the car and outward and downward under the hoods at the ends, whereby openings are provided into the space between the twoplates under each hood, substantially as and forthepurposes specified.

7. In metal railway-cars, the double-walled sides composed of several plates lap-riveted together, in combination with the iiooring composed ot' similar plates lapriveted together and the roof :composed of similar plates also 1ap-riveted together, the joints of the sections of these several parts of the car being arranged in practically the same plane, substantially as and forthe purposes specified.

CHESTER IV. M. SMITH. Witnesses:

ALICE McIvER, J. M. THACHER. 

